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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28406712">A long way to go - Part II</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/juli3/pseuds/juli3'>juli3</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Carina &amp; Maya - Their journey [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Station 19 (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/F, Fluff and Angst</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-04-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 16:54:36</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>10,103</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28406712</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/juli3/pseuds/juli3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Maya and Carina had gone through a rough time.<br/>Finally they found each other again. But still there are some difficulties ahead of them.</p>
<p>This is the second part of this series. it´s placed approx. 3.5 years after the beginning of season 4. If you want to know how they get to the starting point of this story, you can read "A long way to go" first before starting this one :)<br/>I hope you enjoy it</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Maya Bishop &amp; Carina DeLuca, Maya Bishop/Carina DeLuca</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Carina &amp; Maya - Their journey [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2072592</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>191</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>They have been living in their happy “everything is good”- bubble for four weeks now. Many kisses, hot sex and lots of catching up about the last three years.</p>
<p>Maya told Carina everything about how she continued to go and is still going to therapy, how happy she was seeing her mother becoming her own person after divorcing her dad. And how she never spoke to her father again. Her therapist had suggested writing a letter to him if she didn’t feel able to talk to him, but Maya was done. He messed her up emotionally and made her risk losing the love of life. He never was a father figure so she thought it was best for her to cut the ties completely.  She had also tried to find Mason but without success. And with a heavy heart she needed to accept his decision to cut her off. If he ever wanted her back in his life, she would be more than happy, but she was not going to push it. She had learnt from her mistakes. She also told her about she finally was the captain she always wanted to be. Respected by her team but still being able to be friends with most of them. How she and Andy were closer than ever and how thankful she was, that she went and contacted Carina to help her.</p>
<p>Carina on the other hand explained her everything about her new job in the small hospital and how she loved her house and the countryside and that everything felt more personal. Her neighbors knew her by name and she knew everyone living nearby. She told her that going to home-births was one thing she never thought she would like at all, but getting to know the new moms in their own homes was a whole ‘nother experience.  She also talked about Andrea and how much she misses him, but that she also remembered their good times more often and that this was one achievement she got from her therapy, to realize that Andrea was not her father. They had the same illness, but other than that they had nearly nothing else in common.</p>
<p>They talked about their breakup as well and Carina explained again why it was the only way for her in that situation to leave Maya and Seattle behind. To start over. And Maya had to admit that although it was the hardest time in her life it made her a better person at the end.</p>
<p>They enjoyed the nearby beach, went on hikes and also visited LA one time. Carina was back to work a few days after Maya arrived, but she cut her hours to spend more time with Maya. When Carina was at the hospital Maya took care of the house and Betty. She also worked on the mobility of her arm with the local physical therapist, but it still wasn´t right. The nerve was damaged and she didn’t know if it was ever going to be completely healed.</p>
<p>At the beginning the plan was for Maya to stay for six weeks to let her body and mind rest.</p>
<p>The house looked like Maya had moved in. Andy and Robert visited them at their second weekend together and brought Maya more of her clothes and stuff. Carina has emptied an entire closet for her and it was like the two of them were living in Carinas house for long time. Carina loved to see Mayas items all over her place. Betty still loved Maya like on day one. They had a weird connection Carina could not understand. Although Maya had a strict tone with Betty once in a while when she did something Maya didn´t like, the dog always came back to her and chose Maya over Carina at more evenings than she could count.</p>
<p>Four of the six weeks has passed by know and they still haven´t discussed how to go on from this point. This was the one topic both of them were avoiding till this particular evening.</p>
<p>After they had dinner, they sat on the bench at Carinas porch and looked at the stars like they did most evenings. Carina took Mayas hand and brushed her thumb softly over the top of it. She knew this was going to be hard, but she needed to know where she stands, so without looking at Maya she asked “Bella, what are you going to do, when the six weeks of you staying here are over? What are we going to do with us?”</p>
<p>“I´ve been thinking a lot about this” Maya answered “I have to go back to Seattle.”</p>
<p>And Carinas eyes filled with tears.</p>
<p>“Please don´t cry” she said softly, as she wiped away a tear rolling down Carinas cheek “I need to have a specialist fix the nerve in my arm. I tried to be patient, but Carina, I need my arm. If I want to be able to give everything in my job, I definitely need my arm with full functionality. And then, when we find a new position for you in Seattle, maybe a smaller hospital since you seem to like this much more, we can go apartment hunting. Think about it, our first real apartment for us together. I was thinking about something near a park or something for Betty to have enough space to run and stuff. I think this will be great.”</p>
<p>Both sat there in silence for a while. Maya who was happy that she had finally presented her plan to Carina about how she thought they should go from there, and Carina who was wondering if Maya had listened to a single word she told her in the last weeks. She was disappointed and she was getting really mad. After what seemed like hours all she could say:</p>
<p>“Maya what the hell are you talking about? I´m not going back to Seattle!”</p>
<p>With that she got up and went inside. She slammed the door and left a speechless Maya alone in the dark.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hello everyone,<br/>So finally I´m updating - or better continuing - this story with the second part.<br/>I´m sorry it took so long. I thought I would have some time around Christmas, but then there was life and some personal things came up and...you know #2020 -.-</p><p>Aaaaanyways. I hope you liked the start of the second part. Let me know what you think :) and if you have any suggestions I´m always open for them.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>“Maya what the hell are you talking about? I´m not going back to Seattle”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>With that she got up and went inside, slammed the door and leaving a speechless Maya alone in the dark.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Shocked by Carinas reaction Maya sat there for a few more minutes. What was it she said that made Carina behave this way? When she finally got up to go inside everything was dark. She turned on the lights and went to the kitchen to get herself some water.</p><p>She needed to calm herself down before her body would start shaking and her thoughts would begin to spiral. She knew the feeling and everything made her believe that she would have a panic attack real soon. She took some deep breathes, drank some water and was starting to look for Carina to distract herself. She was neither in the living room nor in the bedroom. So, there were two rooms left. One small room attached to the bedroom and the guest room. She found Carina in the guest room curled up in the bed sobbing.</p><p>Maya still didn´t know what she had done wrong and she had no idea what to do now. Her first instinct was do lay next to her and try to calm her down, but what if that made things worse? What if all Carina wanted to have for now was space?</p><p>Maya remembered what her therapist told her for moments like these: If you don´t know what the other person wants from you, or what you can offer them, the easiest way to get an answer is to ask them.</p><p>She went inside the room and sat on the bed next to Carina whose back was turned to her. She carefully stroke her arm and was relieved that she didn´t pull it away.</p><p>“Carina, I don´t know what I have done wrong and honestly I don´t know what to do. Can I hold you to comfort you, or do you want to be alone? Just tell me what you need. Please”</p><p>Carina who listened silently to every word Maya said, was still sad, disappointed and very angry. But more about her own reaction. She knew that she overreacted and that she left Maya in confusion, but she couldn´t help it. She knew she had to explain her feelings to Maya, but now was not the time. So, she tried to get herself together and without turning around she said:</p><p>“I need to be alone right now and I´ll sleep in the guestroom tonight.” And since she knew Maya would not sleep at all if she would leave it at that, she added very quietly “I love you Maya.”</p><p>Maya got up and left the room without saying anything. Carina was afraid that they now were going to lose everything they build up in the last few weeks and months, but a few moments later Maya returned with a glass of water and a box of tissues which she placed on the nightstand. She also brought Betty with her and against her own rules she put the happy dog on the bed. Carina said she wanted to be alone, but she was hoping that the company of this little sunshine would help her to get through with whatever she was dealing right now. When she left the room this time, Carina heard her say “I love you too”. Carina started crying again, pulled Betty close to her, happy about her warmth and the comfort she gave her and she cried herself to sleep.</p><p>When Maya closed Carinas door her eyes filled with tears. What was it that hurt Carina so much? She knew that there was no way that she couldn’t sleep now, and since it was dark outside and she didn’t want to leave Carina alone, she decided against a run. But she had to do something, so she started cleaning the living room. There wasn´t much to do, but she rearranged some things and put everything from the couch and table back to where it belonged. When she put a book back in the shelf, she walked by Carinas framed photos. The newest one was a selfie of the two of them at the beach with Betty running to them in the back. She was smiling while remembering this particular day. There where also pictures of Carinas family in Italy and one of her and her brother.</p><p>Maya knew what it was like to miss a sibling. She hadn´t heard from Mason for years now, but she couldn´t imagine what it must feel like to lose a brother or a sister, and she felt sorry for Carina that she had to go through all of that.</p><p>After a while Maya had done the dishes, wiped all surfaces she could find, and she even found a broom and swept all the floors to avoid making noises with a vacuum cleaner. There was nothing left to do in the house, so she decided to call it a night and to try to get some sleep.</p><p>The bed felt empty without Carina. Although it was only four weeks since they were back together it felt like that they had found their rhythm with each other. As if the last three years without seeing each other didn´t happen. They knew each other by heart and Maya knew there was no way she was losing Carina for a second time. She would do everything for this relationship and the woman in the room next to hers. Carina was her person. With that thought she fell into a restless sleep.</p><p> </p><p>The next morning Maya woke up at her usual time at 5:30. Somethings would never change.</p><p>She felt something warm against her back and realized that she wasn´t alone in the bed. Carina must have come to her during the night and spooned her from behind. She was wondering how she didn’t wake up by that but at the end she didn´t care. She enjoyed the silence for a few more minutes before she got up to go for a run. She was very careful to let Carina sleep but she couldn’t keep herself from giving her sleeping girlfriend a soft kiss on the top of her head.</p><p>With a smile on her face she left the room, carefully closed the door and as soon as she stared running she thought “Somehow, everything will be okay”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thank you for your kudos.<br/>I really like this community! I hope you enjoyed the second chapter :)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>“Somehow, everything will be okay”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Carina woke up when Maya left the room. She couldn´t find any sleep in the guestroom last night. It seemed like the last four weeks got them closer together than they ever were before. She was so used to have Maya by her side at night, to feel her warm body against hers, to feel her love.</p><p>She prepared breakfast and waited for Maya to come back and,a fter a while she heard her step inside and coming into the kitchen to grab some water.</p><p>“Carina. You´re already awake?”</p><p>“I couldn´t sleep anymore, so I´ve decided to make us some breakfast. Coffee should be ready when you´re done showering” she answered with a small smile on her lips.</p><p>Once Maya got back, they ate in silence. Neither of them wanted to start this conversation. But Maya couldn´t take it anymore, reached over the table to take Carinas hand and asked her softly:</p><p>“What happened yesterday? What did I say or do for you to feel so sad?”</p><p>And with that Carina told her, why it was impossible for her to move back to Seattle. There were to many sad memories. She also mentioned the good things, but she needed Maya to understand, that she couldn’t live in that city anymore. The city where her brother died. She had found a new home in this little town, that she loved her new work and her new house and her new neighbors. Actually, she felt more home than she ever did in Seattle considering she lived about the same amount of time in both places by now.</p><p>Maya sat there quietly and let Carina speak. She could feel that her girlfriend had this kept inside for a while now and she didn´t want to interrupt her</p><p>“Maya, I love you. With all my heart, but I can´t come back with you. You´re the one thing missing here, but even if it means losing you, I can´t go back to Seattle.” Her last words were so quiet that they were hard to understand and after she finished Carina couldn´t hold back her tears anymore. She said it. Now it wasn´t on her anymore.</p><p>As soon as Carina finished her last sentence Maya took her hand away and Carina started sobbing because she thought she said too much and that she was really losing her, but Maya got up, went to her side of the table and pulled her into a tight hug. She started kissing her forehead and her hair, her cheeks and then she took Carinas face in her hands and put a very soft kiss onto her lips.</p><p>“Please don´t cry, you won´t lose me.”</p><p>They stood there for a while for Carina to calm down. Maya took her by the hand and led her to the couch.</p><p>“You will never… Carina please look at me” and Carina did so, still with teary eyes “You will never lose me again. Unless you tell me to go, I won´t. leave you. You´re stuck with me!” and Carina smiled a little</p><p>“You´re not mad at me?”</p><p>And Maya put her arm around her and brought her closer to herself, to make her feel safe.</p><p>“Of course, I´m not. I’m sorry that I assumed you´re coming with me and we would be living in Seattle. I lived there my whole life and never thought about moving. I´m sorry that I haven’t thought about how it would be for you to move back to this city. It never crossed my mind, that living here could be a wonderful option.”</p><p>“You mean…?”</p><p>“Carina, I never want to go through something like our last breakup again. At the end it made me stronger, but the one who makes me a better person is you. I know it sounds cheesy but I´m incomplete without you. We´ll figure it out. I need to go back to get my arm fixed, but I want to be with you, even if it means losing my team. The good thing is, I know Andy will be a fantastic captain, plus there are firefighters everywhere. I´ll ask around if any station needs a new captain. I´m even fine with being lieutenant again, if it means staying with you. “</p><p>Carina was speechless. She was so afraid before breakfast; she avoided this topic for weeks. If she would only have known that Maya would react this way. She told herself to never hold anything back again. Even if she was afraid, there will be a way to fix it.</p><p>“Baby did you hear, what I just said?” Maya asked her, because Carina hadn´t say anything.</p><p>“Baciami.”</p><p> </p><p>It was all set. They spent two more wonderful weeks at Carinas place. They talked about their future, the furniture Maya would bring once she´d move in, what to do with the small room attached to the bedroom – Maya convinced Carina to install a workout room – and they imagined what it would be like to really call this place their home. Overall, they were so happy. They felt like everything was perfect the way it was. Of course, there were hard time ahead of them, but they felt that their love was strong enough to make it through it. They agreed on Maya getting her arm fixed was priority and that she needed to go back to Seattle. They would have a long-distance relationship for at least a few months, but during this time Maya would try to find a new job and arrange everything at the station and they would see each other every two weeks, visiting each other back and forth.</p><p> </p><p>Now it was the last evening before Maya would fly back to Seattle. They were in bed after their last hot make out session for the next two weeks, all satisfied and cuddled up and Betty at their feet. Since it was her last night there and Maya knew how much she would miss the little dog she allowed her to sleep in the bed too.</p><p>“I will miss you” Carina said while stroking Mayas hair and placing little kisses on the top of her head</p><p>“I´ll miss you more” Maya said smiling with her head resting on Carinas chest.</p><p>“Maya?”</p><p>“Hm…?”</p><p>“I love you.”</p><p>“Love you too”</p><p>“Bella, I… I wanted to wait until we see each other again. I planned out everything but I can´t wait anymore”</p><p>Maya was sitting up, confused about where this was going and Carina turned around and got something from the drawer of her nightstand.</p><p>“When Andrea died and I had to go through his stuff I found this” and she pulled out a beautiful ring “it belonged to my grandmother and she gave it to my mum who must have given it to Andrea. It has been in our family for a long time. I had completely forgotten about it, but once I found it I´ll remembered the stories my grandma had told me about it and that she thought the ring was lost once my mum went to the US. But it isn´t, I found it.”</p><p>Maya didn´t know what to say. Her eyes went up and down between Carinas mouth as she tried to listen to what she was saying and the ring in her hands. Was this really happening? Could this be real?</p><p>“Now it´s on me to keep it in the family. And Maya, you are my family, you are the love of my life. Maya Bishop… Will you marry me?”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Happy new year everyone :)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hi everyone. Sorry it took so long. I´ve read this one tweet “2021 is like 2020, just with bangs” and I have to agree -.-<br/>So, sorry again!<br/>I hope you enjoy it 😊</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>Some time ago</strong>
</p>
<p>
  <em>She was sitting in her bedroom trying to cover her ears, tears in her eyes. But she could hear the screaming, the violence, she heard the breaking dishes and the anger in his voice. She closed her eyes and tried to think of herself in a quiet place, a peaceful island, a lonely mountain, sun shining and the clouds above her. Nothing but silence. </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Suddenly she felt some cold air on her skin and she thought he would come to her and carry on screaming in her room. She opened her eyes and was relieved that it wasn´t him.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Can I stay with you?”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Sure, come here, get under my blanket” she said as she made some room on her bed.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>And they stayed like this for the rest of the night. Ten-year-old Maya and her little brother. Two children afraid of their dad, feeling helpless about what would happen next. Would he hurt their mum, would he hurt them? Both of them shaking and neither of them found any sleep in that night. Unfortunately, it wasn´t a single incident. They had many nights like these. And Maya, as little as she was, started her mantra she used to whisper in those nights “I´m never getting married. I´m never getting married. I´m never getting married”</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Maya told the story as if it wasn´t her own story. As if the little girl wasn´t herself.</p>
<p>It was the second year she went to therapy and every time she was kind of surprised about how many memories she had hidden deep within her. Buried, but trying to get out. This was one of those memories. After she calmed down a bit her therapist asked her</p>
<p>“And what do you think about this now? What would you tell ten-year-old Maya, if you would get the chance?”</p>
<p>“I would tell her that that she isn´t her father or her mother, that she is a strong girl who can achieve anything she wants” Maya said, tears still streaming down her face “And that she should keep looking for love and once she finds her person that she doesn´t let go. That she trusts herself and her feelings and that it´s okay to be vulnerable and …” she stopped</p>
<p>Her therapist knew her well enough by now to wait for her to continue, so she just sat there looking at Maya</p>
<p>“… and I would tell her to let go of the ambitions of her father before it is too late, before she will be slowly turning into him, before she will ruin the relationship with her brother, before she will hurt her first and only love, before she will lose herself.”</p>
<p>“Maya, you know we can´t change the past.” The therapist said to the crying Maya “But, although we don´t know what will happen, we can influence our future. She is still you. So, think about telling your present self to trust herself, her feelings and that being vulnerable is not a bad thing”</p>
<p>And Maya did. This was one of those therapy sessions that had her think a lot and not letting her sleep. But after a while she agreed with her therapist. And like with so many other things she dealt with she came to the conclusion “I am not my father”.</p>
<p>She also thought about marriage a lot after this session and that Carina was probably the only person she would have married before screwing everything up and Carina moving away after her brother died. So, for her it was clear she would never be a wife, she missed that chance, but maybe there was still a way for her to be happy with someone, to fall in love again.</p>
<p>She felt better after that. And her therapist was right. Who knew what her future was going to look like? She knew exactly what she didn´t want, but she was open for everything else.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <strong>Present Day</strong>
</p>
<p>“Maya Bishop, will you marry me?”</p>
<p>It took her two seconds to realize that Carina had really asked her to marry her, three seconds to start crying and four seconds to answer “yes!”</p>
<p>Carina was beaming now and slowly put the ring on Mayas finger.</p>
<p>“I know it´s soon, but on the other hand it´s not. It´s confusing, but I know you´re the one and therefore it´s right” she continued as Maya didn´t say anything else.</p>
<p>“I…” Carina was cut off by Maya pulling her into a deep kiss.</p>
<p>“Carina I love you. I want to grow old with you. I want to travel the world with you. I want to explore everything with you. You are my love. You are my one. So yes, yes yes and a thousand times yes” and she kissed her again and looked at the beautiful ring.</p>
<p>“Now look at us. Both crying. We´re both a complete mess. We need to think about how we handle the actual wedding” she said and started laughing.</p>
<p>Carina who loved that laugh so much, smiled as big as she could and if she was just realizing it she said “We´re going to have a wedding. You´re going to be my wife”</p>
<p>And with that both of them started crying happy tears again.</p>
<p>“We have to stop this” Maya said whiping away first her own and then Carinas tears “Look at Betty. She´s all confused about us starting to cry every other minute”</p>
<p>Carina pulled the dog up to her chest and cuddled her “So Betty what do you think about Maya being your second mom?” and as if Betty understood exactly what she was saying she jumped up to Maya and started licking her face “okay, it´s safe to say… she agrees.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>They talked long after this. Carina told Maya about some ideas she had about where and how they could have the ceremony. Maya loved all of them. If she was completely honest, she would say yes to Carina everywhere, but seeing her lighten up as she was describing the location and everything, made her love her even more.</p>
<p>They agreed that there would be no rush. That they´ve waited so long that a couple of months meant nothing.  At the moment they were as happy as they could be.</p>
<p>“Good night, Bella. I love you” Carina said when they finally decided to actually get some sleep.</p>
<p>“I love you too.”</p>
<p>Maya rested her head on the chest of her fiancé, who she thought was asleep by now, looked at the ring on her finger and whispered “I´m getting married”.</p>
<p>Carina who heard her, kissed the top of her head and fell asleep with a smile on her lips and a heart full of love.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I really enjoy writing this story and I hope you liked this chapter.<br/>In the next one we´ll have the wedding. Actually I´m excited to bring some other characters back to join them 😊<br/>Thanks again for your nice comments. Really appreciate them.<br/>If you have anything I should include, I´m always open for suggestions :)<br/>Stay safe everyone.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Maya was standing in the living room waiting for Carina. How long does it take to get the freaking purse?</p><p>“Carina, what takes you so long? Hurry we have to leave!”</p><p>She was getting mad. And mad Maya wasn’t good. Maya didn’t like her mad-self, but she couldn’t help it. She was ready 30 minutes ago and she hated waiting. Screw it</p><p>“I´ll wait for you in the car!” she screamed and Carina who was in their bedroom double checking if she really had everything she would need for the next two days heard the door slam.</p><p>“This is going to be fun” she said annoyed and went outside.</p><p> </p><p><br/>
<em>          A few weeks earlier</em>
</p><p>“Ciao Bella” Carina said as she walked into her house after her 24h shift “I’ve missed you. Bella…? Maya…? Where are you?” She was looking for her girlfriend who texted her a couple of hours ago to tell her that she definitely would be there and that they could have a nice evening together. It was one of their weekends together. The still had a long distance relationship and it wasn´t as easy as they thought at the beginning but they´ve worked out a schedule which worked most of the time. And on that weekend they even had the Friday evening, which was rare but Maya was able to get one more day off.</p><p>Carina found Maya in the living room. Sitting on the couch going through some documents. On the table in front of her was even more paper. Carina smiled when she saw the concentration on Mayas face. She went into their bedroom to change into some comfy clothes and got back to the living room with two glasses of wine.</p><p>“What are you doing?” She asked while she sat down next to Maya, kissed her on the cheek and gave her the glass.</p><p>“Carina you´re home?” Maya asked surprised, she clearly hadn´t noticed Carina before. She relaxed a bit, gave her a soft kiss on the lips and sipped on her wine. <br/>
“I´m going through possible locations. It´s so hard to find something beautiful, where all of our guests can stay as well.”</p><p>They´ve decided to have a winter wedding in the mountains in February. Maya was surprised when Carina told her about that idea. She thought that Carina would like to have a wedding in Italy. But Carina preferred having their honeymoon in Europe in summer, and she had been living in the US for a while now, and most of her friends were living here as well. Carina also made her point that although she said there was no rush, she didn´t want to wait any longer. Maya was fine with it. She was in love with that woman. And she knew that at the end for her didn´t matter where and when they were getting married, she just wanted to give Carina the wedding he deserved.</p><p>“Plus we need to make sure everyone can get there without getting stuck in the snow. And what do we do about the children? How do we entertain them for them to not get bored? And…”</p><p>Carina knew that Maya started spinning. She rubbed her hand slowly up and down on Mayas back to calm her down.</p><p>“Maya, look at me” she said and Maya did so “What is wrong Bella? Why are you so stressed about all of this? We´ll figure everything out. We´ll still have time”</p><p>At that Maya snapped “Time? We have time? There are only some months left and we haven´t organized anything? We´re still at step one”</p><p>“That´s not true. We´ve picked a date, we´ve decided on an area, we know who we want to invite and most importantly: We´ve decided to do this for us. This is going to be our day Maya. I love you. Now please tell me, what´s going on in there?” she asked and gave Maya a soft kiss on the top of her head.</p><p>Maya sighed “I think it´s all becoming a bit much.”</p><p>“Do you want to cancel the wedding?” Carina asked, trying to stay calm but couldn´t hide her worries.</p><p>“No, no, god no” Maya said “But with me still haven´t found a job here, and the progress on my arm is so slow, I have the feeling that I have to get at least one thing right.” And she got back to the printouts of the location she prepicked and placed little pins on a map to make it easier for her to visualize which was the optimal spot.</p><p>Carina felt that there was more to that, but she didn´t want to push her. They agreed to be honest with each other and tell each other everything, but part of a relationship was also to give each other space. So she didn´t dig any deeper, she was sure Maya was going to talk about it eventually. </p><p>Carina got up to make them some dinner, after all she had a long day at work and she was excited for there weekend together. She was positive that they would find a solution to whatever this was.</p><p> </p><p><br/>
<em>            “This is going to be fun” she said annoyed and went outside.</em>
</p><p>They haven´t talked for over an hour now. Maya driving and Carina staring out of the window. It was ridiculous. Maya was mad at herself and Carina didn´t know what she had done wrong. Maya couldn´t find the courage to start a conversation, knowing that it wasn´t Carinas fault for her to be impatient, but as a peace-offer she placed her hand on Carinas leg and softly stroke her thumb over it. She couldn´t look at Carina, part being focused on the traffic, part being still a bit ashamed of her own behavior, so she couldn´t see the smile on Carinas face as soon as she felt the touch of her fiance. </p><p>“Do you want to tell me, what´s wrong Maya? I was really looking forward to see all the possible options for our reception and get to spend a full weekend alone with you and so far I felt nothing but being rushed.” she placed her hand on top of Mayas to assure her she wasn´t mad.</p><p>“I think it´s because of my dad” Maya said. Going to therapy for that amount of time now thought her, that it was alright and good to talk about her past.</p><p>“We didn´t go on vacation very often. With all my track meets and races there was barely time for something like ‘family time’ as he liked to call it. Of course he was in charge of the Bishop-Family-Trips like he was for everything else, but as soon as only the tiniest bit went wrong hell broke lose. He screamed at my mum why she hadn´t seen the problem coming and then he went on to raise his voice against me and my brother for wanting to do something nice in the first place and that we weren´t good enough for him giving us his attention for something like a vacation. At the end most of the time we went to beautiful places, but none of us could enjoy anything because we were always afraid that something didn´t go according to plan. I guess that´s why I like over-organizing these things. To think of all eventualities. Everything that could go wrong.”</p><p>By the time Maya had finished she had stopped by a coffee place, because she realized she was losing the concentration to drive and also she didn´t let Carina have her coffee this morning.</p><p>“I´m sorry. I really am.” Maya said looking at her hands which were now both in her lap.</p><p>“Maya” Carina said as she turned to Maya and put her face between her hands. “What if we think about all the things that could go right?” she smiled “Think about how happy we will be. How happy our friends will be for us. What it will be like to wake up the first time as a married couple. Not to mention our wedding night.”</p><p> She felt Maya relaxing under her touch and got out of the car.</p><p> “Come on Bella. Let me show you what a nice vacation can look like. This time we only have the two days, and we actually have to stick to the appointments to look at the places, but we still can make it fun. Let´s start with some good coffee.”</p><p>Maya followed her and like so many times before all she could think “How did I get this lucky?”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>well ok. it took me longer than I thought. Sorry for that. Also I had to add this chapter before the wedding chapter, but it´s going to be the next one I promise :)</p><p>I hope you enjoyed it. Tell me what you think. Should there be a surprise wedding guest?</p><p> </p><p>Please stay safe everyone.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>February 1st </em>
</p><p>Carina woke up next to her fiancee. She smiled at her and thought about how much she had grown since the first time they´ve met. Work was always Mayas priority. She defined herself over being the best at everything. The youngest female  fire captain of Seattle. And now more than 4 years later, after all those hard times the two of them had, she had softened. Maya was still this fearless strong beautiful woman she fell in love with, but now Maya was able to show her vulnerability, her feelings, her love. This was a nice bonus and Carina had the feeling that she was falling more in love with her every single day. Two weeks until the wedding. Two weeks. Carina got excited by the thought of it. Valentines Day. When she suggested that date to Maya she expected her to make fun of her, if she was being honest she made fun about herself about this cheesy idea. But all Maya said was, that she loved the idea and that she would do everything to make her happy.</p><p>“Do you like what you see?” Maya asked with her eyes still closed.</p><p>“How long have you been awake?” Carina asked, gave her a soft kiss and cuddled into her.</p><p>“I felt your eyes on me for a while now and to be honest I was enjoying it.” Maya smirked and finally opened her eyes. Like every morning she woke up next to Carina she was blown away by the beauty of her woman. She was so happy. She didn´t need anything else but knowing that the love for Carina was real.</p><p>She had quit her job in Seattle by the end of December. They really lived together in the same house for one month now and Maya couldn´t be happier. She made the decision to quit her job without having a new one. There was no open position at the moment, so she chose love over certainty. They´ve talked long about it, because Carina was worried that at one point Maya would regret this decision, but she was sure that it won´t be the case. She had to admit, that as good as they managed to plan everything, the long-distance-thing sucked. She had enough of that. And she was finally at a point of her life where she knew that everything would work out somehow. She had waited so long to have that feeling of safety she got when she was around Carina, she wasn´t going to lose that over a job. Because as much as she loved her work and how proud she was of herself for how far she got, at the end it was just a job. She didn´t worry to much about finding a new position in the future. She told herself to be patient and to enjoy the first time in her life where she didn´t have that many responsibilities. And she really did enjoy it.</p><p>“I love you” she said as she hugged Carina tight.</p><p>“I love you too.”</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>February 10th</em>
</p><p>Carina and Maya arrived at the venue. It had everything they wanted. There were wooden cabins for all of their guests. In the main house of the complex everyone could come together to eat. There was a room for the children to play and one for them to sleep in. Some of their friends were already there exploring the beautiful countryside. There was snow, trees, mountains - a perfect winter fairytale. Thats why they´ve chosen to have the ceremony outside and the reception in the evening inside. Maya and Carina went to the place where in summer there was this large meadow, which was now completely covered in snow. They could see that the wedding arch was already installed and both of them got teary eyes by the look of it.</p><p>“We´re really doing this.” Maya said, as she took Carinas hand.</p><p>“Yes Bella.” Was the only answer Carina had. She was lost for words and all she could do was lean into Maya and wait for three more days to finally call her her wife.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>February 13th</em>
</p><p>Although some of their guest chose to arrive even earlier Maya and Carina decided to invite everyone to arrive in the evening of the 12th. This way no one would be stressed at the day of the wedding because everyone would have enough time to settle and it would give them the opportunity to have a nice breakfast with all of their friends and family one last time as an engaged couple. When the two of them entered the large room they were happy to see everyone. There was this large table of firefighters. Vic who switched to Chicago a few months ago was sitting next to her new boyfriend. Andy and Robert who were married for some time now, Jack and his wife, Dean with his girlfriend and Travis who very recently broke up with his boyfriend. Next to them was what they called the doctors table. Carina thought it would be nice to introduce her old friends from Greys to her new ones from the hospital she was working in now and placed them together. There was Teddy, Amelia and Link, Miranda and Ben, Levy and Taryn, and Susan, Greta, Mhabub and Peter from her new work.<br/>
All the kids were running around in the kids corner and they seemed to get along pretty well. It was like they felt that it was a happy occasion why all of them got together in this one place.<br/>
Maya and Carina went greeting everyone and made their place to the family table. Carina seemed to be looking for someone and was nervous somehow</p><p>“Is everything alright baby?” Maya asked her, while she stroke her thumb over Carinas hand</p><p>“Yes, well I hope so.” Carina said.</p><p>Maya wanted to ask her what she meant by that but got pulled into a tight hug by Carinas aunt so she didn´t get the chance to do so. There were also two of Carinas cousins. Neither of the woman decided to invite their fathers. They were informed about the wedding, but that was all. Mayas mother, who tried to learn Italian as soon as she heard that her daughter was back with Carina tried hard to speak with Carinas family and vice versa, but she was relieved when her daughter joined her at the table to help her with the language barrier. </p><p>“Hi mom.” Maya said as she hugged her mother.</p><p>“Maya. I´m so so happy for you” was all she whispered back.</p><p>Once everyone took their seat Carina and Maya got up to give a little speech to great their guests and thank everyone for joining them for their wedding the next day. Everyone clapped at the end and they started their breakfast.</p><p>Carina still looked like something was not right and Maya saw her quietly talking to her mother. So she asked her again if anything was fine.</p><p>“Actually...” Carina answered with her eyes tearing up “I had this idea and I don´t know if it worked. You know when I lost my brother it almost broke me, and I almost lost you.”</p><p>Maya had no idea where she was going, but she thought it would be best not to interrupt her and just kept holding her hand </p><p>“And I know how sad you are that you lost contact with your brother and how much you miss him. So your mama and I tried to find him and Maya... we did it. We found him.”</p><p>Maya was kind of in shock by this news.</p><p>“How is he? Why didn´t you tell me?” she asked, now crying herself.</p><p>“He is fine. He found a place to stay and is working with some kids on the streets. I talked to him about us and our wedding and how much it would mean to you and me if he would join us. And he said that he would think about it. So I told him this address and I really hoped he would be here today, but it seems like he couldn´t make it. I´m sorry Maya. I should have told you that I met with him, but I didn´t want to get your hopes up. I´m so sorry, Bella”</p><p>Just in that moment the door to the breakfast room opened and everyone was starring at the man entering</p><p>“I…I…So I heard my big sister is getting married tomorrow?” he shyly asked.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Sooo I was planning to post this on valentines day last week, but work kept me from writing.</p><p>What do you think?</p><p>There will be more drama in the next chapters but I wanted to keep the wedding special. So I guess the next chapter will be a happy one as well.</p><p>If you have any suggestions I´m always happy to hear them.</p><p>Have a nice weekend everyone :)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“I…I…So I heard my big sister is getting married tomorrow?” he shyly asked</p>
<p>Maya couldn´t believe it. Her little brother was really standing there. She got up an ran towards him and pulled him into the tightest hug.</p>
<p>“I´m never letting go of you ever again” she said with tears in her eyes.<br/>
“Well, this would be kind of awkward” Mason replied and both of them started laughing.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>After a very long introduction round Maya could sense that Mason was getting uncomfortable, so she led him to her table where Mason and Carina hugged each other tightly.</p>
<p>“Thank you for coming!” she whispered in his ear, happy for Maya to have her brother with her on this important day tomorrow. </p>
<p>During the breakfast gathering Maya and Carina switched tables as often as they could to talk to their friends, but at their eyes always looking for each other and they couldn´t stop smiling as soon as they found their significant other in large room. Everyone could see how in love they were. After what had turned into some kind of a very long brunch everyone decided to go on a winter walk through the woods. <br/>
The weather was beautiful, the sun was shining and the fresh snow made everything look so peaceful.</p>
<p><br/>
Maya noticed that Carina hadn´t said anything for a while now, so she took her hand and walked next to her, slowing down to have some distance to the others. They walked silently next to each other until Maya asked “Is everything alright with you? You know you can tell me?”</p>
<p>Maya saw a smile appearing on Carinas face, although her eyes told something else “I´m good. I´m just nervous I guess”</p>
<p>Maya stopped and took now both of Carinas hands in hers, swallowed and asked quietly “Are you having second thoughts about marrying me?”</p>
<p>“No that´s not it, I assure you, but it´s…” at this point the all the kids were running towards them as some kind of game and Carina couldn´t end her sentence.</p>
<p>“We talk later, okay?” she said and gave Maya a soft kiss on the cheek.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>But they didn´t get the chance to have a moment just the two of them for the rest of the day.<br/>
After the walk everyone somehow decided to meet in the large hall again and the day that had started with  brunch ended with everyone having dinner together as well. Everyone was having fun, Maya was holding Carinas hand under the table to calm her, and she could see that it was working and she was relaxing. Also Carinas face lightened up again and she was talking with everyone like their little talk in woods never happened. The evening was coming to an end and Maya was just getting up to pull her fiancé aside to make sure she really was okay or if she needed to get something off of her chest, when Carinas aunt interrupted. </p>
<p>“Carina is coming with me, no?” she said with a very Italian accent and took Carinas hand out of Mayas. </p>
<p>Maya and Carina had agreed to do spend their last night as an unmarried couple the old fashioned way: separated. Carina would stay with her cousins and Maya with her mom and now with her brother as well. </p>
<p>“I love you Bella.”<br/>
“I love you too, babe. See you tomorrow, I can´t wait.”</p>
<p>There was one last very long kiss with lots of 'awwwwws' from their friends, before Carina went with her family and Maya with hers.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Their mother excused herself very soon to give her children some quality time with just the two of them.</p>
<p>Maya and Mason lost track of time. They were sitting on the bed of her hotel room, snacking candy and talking about everyone and everything. They´ve missed so many years in each others life that they felt like they could catch up forever.</p>
<p>Maya was proud of her brother. She always has been but now more than ever. And she wasn´t shy to tell him so after what felt like every second sentence until he made it very clear that none of this would have happened if it wasn´t for her. Although she didn´t know any of this he kept track of her life even after he disappeared. And once he heard that she cut the ties with their father and  how good she was with their mom and helping her through the divorce and how she pushed going though therapy even after splitting up with Carina, he knew that he could do it himself. Pick himself up. He wanted, needed to do it on his own, but he did it because of his sister, and for her. He knew that he was wrong for blaming her for their fathers behavior and that it wasn´t her fault that she was his favorite. He wanted to wait for him to get to a point in his life, where he woulnd´t be embarrassed anymore to show up to her.<br/>
Once he finished telling her about all this both of them were close to crying.</p>
<p>“Mason you know you could have come to me at any point in your life in any condition you were in. You are my brother. Our bond is so strong. And even after all those years of not seeing each other I feel this instant connection again and you must feeling it too, don´t you? Please never leave me again, promise me!”<br/>
“I do sis!”<br/>
“Pinky swear?”</p>
<p>And just like that they were giggeling again like when they were little kids when all of the sudden they´ve heard a knock. “It´s after midnight, who is that?” Maya asked.<br/>
“I got it” Mason said and got up to answer the door.</p>
<p>Carinas cousin pushed him aside and went straight in the room.</p>
<p>“Rosa?” Maya was getting worried when she saw the look on the womans face “You´re scaring me. What´s wrong?”</p>
<p><br/>
“It´s Carina, she´s gone!”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Okay. Wow. That took me so long. I´m really sorry for that. There was just too much going on. At work, in my head, in the world, on the show...<br/>I try to update more often. I actually really like this story and I want to finish it at some point. </p>
<p>I hope you still enjoy reading it, although there was such a long break between the chapters.</p>
<p>Have a nice weekend everyone :)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter 8</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Wait what? What do you mean ‘she´s gone’? What are you talking about?” Maya asked, her voice higher than usual “Rosa, talk to me!”</p><p>“We can´t find her” the girl with the short brown her answered “We were talking about the wedding and how good it felt that we could come from Italy to join her on this special day when suddenly she got up and told us she would take Betty for a walk. We didn´t think it was weird, but it was 2h hours ago. When she didn´t come back after an hour or so Giulia and I started worrying and we looked everywhere, but we cannot find her. We didn´t want to worry you. But now after arguing a bit about it, we agreed to tell you. I´m sorry.”</p><p>Rosa explained the situation and Maya sat down on her bed.</p><p>Mason and Rosa were looking at her expecting her to say anything.</p><p>“Maya!? Did you hear what Rosa said?” Mason asked while approaching his sister.</p><p>Maya got out of her trance “First of all: Carina is not gone, she is missing.” Maya turned on her ‘chief-being-the-coordinator-of-the-situation-mind’. “You said she took Betty for a walk, so I guess she didn´t take anything else with her besides her coat and the leash. And since I have the car keys with me, she could not have gone far. So if she isn´t back by now… she´s missing.”</p><p>“But we searched everywhere.”</p><p>“I doubt that. This area is large.” Maya got up and was pacing through the room.</p><p>“Maya” Mason took her hand trying to calm her. </p><p>“No Mason.” Maya was blocking out her emotions, especially her fear. “She told me, she isn´t nervous about the wedding. There was something on her mind, but I am sure it was not about leaving me. I hate myself right now for not insisting for her to tell me what it was, but she has to be somewhere. We just need to find out where. I also don´t want to make everyone freaking out about it. I give us one more hour to look for her, if we haven´t found her by then, we call the police. And please don´t wake up your mother to join the search. I don´t want to be rude but I cannot handle her temperament right now. I need to stay focused.” </p><p>Rosa nodded at her request</p><p>“Since I am over-organizing everything I have a map of the area with all the buildings with me. I wanted to make sure to have a plan for everyone to know where everyone else was staying and of course I kept a copy to myself. Now Rosa… please go get Giulia and show me every place you´ve already searched”</p><p> </p><p>When Rosa left to get her sister Maya let her guard down and and her eyes were tearing up.</p><p>“Mason. We need to find her. What if something happened?”</p><p>“Maya. We´ll find her. I´m sure we do. There has to be an explanation for it.”</p><p>“I hope you´re right” she said as she hugged her brother.</p><p> </p><p>Soon Carinas cousins got back and the four of them were gathered around the small table.<br/>
The girls made a cross everywhere they went and it turned out that they had missed some places simply by not knowing about them.<br/>
Maya decided for them to split up and agreed to meet back again in this room in one hour or text each other as soon as there would be any news. Giulia was assigned to the play-area for the children. Neither of them found a reason why Carina should be there, but the needed to check every possible option. Rosa went to the place where all the skiing equipment was stored and Mason said he would check on the outside again. Maya doubted that Carina would be somewhere in the cold for that long because she was getting cold so easily. At least she wouldn´t be there voluntary. But Maya pushed that thought way back. She knew she would freak if she´d allowed those kind of thoughts. </p><p> </p><p>She went to the wellness-area, which was usually closed at night, but Maya and Carina had requested special rights of using them at night as well and both had a key which no one else knew about.</p><p>She went in and saw that the lights were on. That didn´t mean anything because when they went there two nights ago to enjoy some alonetime in the sauna the lights were on as well. She clearly remembered because Carina  was getting angry about the waste of electricity and how that affected the environment until Maya found a very convincing way to make her think about something else. Maya smiled at that thought. She passed the small pool and got to the shower-area. At first she didn´t see anything but then she heard something. “Carina, are you in here somewhere?”<br/>
But it wasn´t Carina who came to her. Instead their little dog was running towards her, happily wagging her tail.</p><p>“Betty” Maya picked her up. “Where is Carina? Hmm? Can you show me?” She talked to the dog as she went further into the showers. And there she was. Sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall. Sleeping.</p><p>“Baby” Maya quietly said as she sat next to her, gently stroking her arm and Betty trying to climb on Carinas lap.</p><p> “Carina, Baby. Wake up.”</p><p>She did, looking around her, confused where she was. But she relaxed when saw Maya right next to her</p><p>“Maya. What are you doing here?”</p><p>“What I´m doing here? Carina do you know how scared I was? What are you doing here?” she asked as she kissed her on the cheeks. “But wait, I have to tell the others that you´re okay” she said and quickly texted Mason, Rosa and Giulia that she found Carina and that she was safe.</p><p>“I must have fallen asleep”<br/>
“Yes I saw that. But… what were you doing here on the floor in the showers in the middle of the night?”</p><p>With that question a sad look appeared on Carinas face and she started explaining.</p><p>“Do you remember the time when Andrea died and everything felt too soft for me? When I didn´t want comfort in anything to not feel the pain anymore. To not let it eat me up from the inside?”</p><p>“I do” Maya said, remembering these very hard times which at the end had them split up and Carina moving away and she was worrying why Carina had those memories on the night before their wedding. But she didn´t ask, she knew Carina by heart and she knew that she would talk in her own pace. And after a few minutes Carina continued.</p><p>“When I saw you with Mason today it hit me like a rock. I am so so happy for you to reconnect with your brother but it reminded me that I will never have the chance to do this with mine. And I didn´t want to ruin the mood, that´s why I haven´t said anything. So I went here with Betty after her walk trying to block all the bad thoughts and I must have fallen asleep. It hit me hard Bella, so hard” she stared crying when she said those last words.</p><p>Maya put an arm around her and pulled her close “Carina, I am so sorry that you feel so bad and I feel stupid for not making the right connections. I knew something was up, but I had no idea what it was. Please forgive me. You can tell me everything at every time, you know that. If you don´t feel like it, if you need time to process we run away together. We don´t have to get married tomorrow. I mean I love you and I want to marry you, but if you need to step back, we´ll do it. We run away and no one will catch us. You know how fast I can drive.”</p><p>A small smile appeared on Carinas face and Maya continued</p><p>“We have this option, so keep it in mind. But let me tell you, with all the questions he asked me about you and how he told me how glad he was that you found him, I know that Mason loves you already. Carina my family is yours, I´m your family. So I share my brother with you. He´s not yours by blood, but he is by heart. I know it is not the same and I cannot bring Andrew back, but...” And with that Maya got interrupted with a kiss. Carina put her face in both of her hands and kissed her like there was no tomorrow.</p><p>“I love you Bella” she said as both needed some air. She put her head on Mayas shoulder and they sat there in silence for a while.</p><p>“Want to go to bed?” Maya asked as she got up holding her hand up for Carina to join her.</p><p>“But my aunt?”</p><p>“Come on. Screw the traditions. It´s our last night before we´re getting married. I want to spend it with you. I want to make you feel safe and hold you close. We´ll make something up tomorrow. Please?”</p><p>And Carina finally took her hand, holding Betty who fell asleep during their talk in the other and they went to Mayas room to spend the last night as engaged couple together, just like Maya promised holding each other close. And lying there feeling so loved, Carina looked at her sleeping girlfriend and she knew that no one could ever make her stop loving her. She was hers forever. And tomorrow they would make it official. And finally, after a very emotional day, Carina fell into a peaceful sleep.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Happy Sunday everyone!</p><p>So this story is coming to an end. I think there will be one or two more chapters.<br/>But those of you who read "Cabin in the woods" know, that - at least in my mind - the story continues. </p><p>So I plan a third part of this series, hoping you´ll still enjoy reading it.<br/>Thanks again for the kudos on the last part &lt;3</p><p>Have a good day and stay safe :)</p>
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